Aashish Mishra

Lalitpur’s Rato Machhindranath Jatra lies uncertain. The chariot festival should have ended by now but this year, it hasn’t even begun. And with COVID-19 raging all around us, many people are saying that the jatra should be cancelled. After all, Seto Machhindranath and Bisket Jatra were cancelled considering the need of the time. So, why allow Rato Machhindranath to go ahead despite the virus risks?
The residents of Lalitpur have no choice. If the chariot festival isn’t concluded by Phulpati, then Machhindranath will be claimed by Bhaktapur. This is according to a millennia-old contract between the two cities wherein Akhanda Shree Mahabihar of Bhaktapur will come and take Patan’s God of good harvest to his mother who is housed on the Mahabihar premises if Patan locals aren’t able to complete his chariot procession by the Dashain festival.
Now, there might be some who say that this is just a myth; or those who argue that an exception should be made for the outbreak of a disease as contagious and dangerous as COVID-19. But such people should once look back to 1961. Local elders of Lalitpur still talk about it as the year they almost lost their famous deity.
As someone who was born and raised in the core area of Patan, I grew up hearing stories of “Athara saal ko haija” (cholera outbreak of 1961). This outbreak, much like the current coronavirus epidemic, was spreading fast and had put severe restrictions on people’s ability to go out and work. As a result, Machhindranath’s chariot could not be built on time and the jatra kept getting delayed time and again until Dashain that was just a few weeks away.
Many people then, much like now, thought that the contract was just a tale. But as Dashain approached nearer, Bhaktapurians started preparing to bring Machhindranath there. Arrangements were made to conduct the Bhoto Jatra on the steps of the Silu Mahadev temple in Bhaktapur Durbar Square. This showed everyone that the contract was real and that the people of Bhaktapur were determined to follow it, without exception. So, Patan hurriedly concluded the jatra, which usually lasts around three to four months, in a matter of weeks.
In more recent times, the 2015 earthquake also stalled the jatra for a long time. Lord Machhindranath’s chariot was stuck in Bungamati and could not be brought inside the city because of constant aftershocks and the damaged buildings. It looked like the jatra would not be completed before the Dashain and talks once again rose of Machhindranath being taken to Bhaktapur. But various communities of Lalitpur came together and finished the jatra within a matter of weeks, just a few days before Phulpati.
This year, too, some members of Bhaktapur’s religious and cultural groups have started saying that they are ready to claim Machhindranath if Lalitpurians fail to complete the festival as stipulated in the contract, but no official statement has been made from any side yet.
This article is not saying that the jatra should be conducted despite the huge health risks. It is also not saying that the centuries-old culture should not be respected. It is not even saying that a balance between the two should be found. It simply seeks to inform the readers why conducting the Machhindranath Jatra is so important for the natives of Lalitpur.
In the more than 1,600-year history of the festival, Machhindranath has never been taken to Bhaktapur. There isn’t even a mechanism in place to relocate the God from Bungamati to Akha Bahal. Lalitpurians want to keep it that way.